Neighborhood crushes concrete plant in court

by Erika Mc Donald

A four-year battle ended in victory for residents of the Sunnyside neighborhood who took on Southern Crushed Concrete, which planned to move its facilities there.

In November, the company withdrew a permit application that was approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (then TNRCC) in 1999 to relocate its concrete crushing plant to the 1500 block of Almeda.

Martina Cartwright, who represented the residents, is a lawyer with the Environmental Justice Clinic at the Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, which assists environmentally impacted low-to-moderate-income minority communities.

She said TCEQ agreed to hear plaintiffs’ motion to overturn the permit because it violated distance restrictions on the plant’s proximity to recreational areas, residences and facilities. The property on Almeda where Southern Crushed Concrete planned to relocate to was within one quarter mile of Sunnyside homes and churches. This posed a public health threat, according to residents who were concerned about breathing in fine particulate matter generated by the massive concrete crusher and piles of crumbled cement.

Residents were granted a contested case hearing after TCEQ received more than 3,000 letters requesting the permit be overturned.

Bessie Swindle, President of the Southeast Coalition of Civic Clubs, attributed the victory to heavy community opposition. Swindle is also a Sunnyside precinct judge and resident. Though residents had the visible backing of elected officials such as Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, State Representative Al Edwards and Houston City Councilmember Ada Edwards, Swindle said community involvement was the key factor in Sunnyside’s victory.

“There’s no doubt we would not have won if not for the community coming together to make this our number-one priority,” she said. “We decided we didn’t want (the plant) here and we said ‘no.’”

Swindle said that, in addition to the 3,000 letters, residents also packed public meetings on the contested permit application and raised thousands of dollars.

At one public hearing hosted at Worthing High School in southeast Houston, more than 650 residents flooded the auditorium in opposition of the proposed plant location.

“That’s when they knew we meant business,” Swindle said.

Sunnysiders also raised more than $4,000 to pay for legal fees and the cost of an environmental inspection. Swindle said the $2,500 leftover from the expenses would be donated to the Environmental Justice Clinic.

According to Cartwright, the Clinic will investigate, at the request of Sunnyside residents, other concrete crushing facilities that are located in low-income, ethnic- minority neighborhoods.

Swindle said that Southern Crushed Concrete still owns the property on Almeda and she suspects the company will attempt to refile their application. Cartwright said Texas law allows the company to reapply.

“We’ll be ready for them,” Swindle said.